Children's Discovery Centre

Housing Lab Toronto Inc.

Location

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

DATE

2015

STATUS

Completed

SIZE

20,000 sq. ft.

In September 2014, Blue Rhino Design was engaged by Housing Lab Toronto Inc. to undertake a broad range of experience design and development services for the Children’s Discovery Centre, a temporary children’s museum in downtown Toronto, Canada. The CDC opened in May 2015 to great acclaim.

Working closely with the client, the Blue Rhino Design team reviewed and recommended improvements to the floor plan and content plan. We provided content development, look-and-feel design, materials and supplier sourcing, graphic design for experience graphics and area graphics, design support for lighting and audio for the following areas: Science and Nature, Active Fitness, Make Believe/Dance Zone, Kitchen and the Toddler Area. We also developed the Wayfinding System and Strategy and provided graphic production coordination and oversight.

Working with early childhood educators, artists and architects, Blue Rhino Design developed the design language to provide imaginative play environments for toddlers and kids under the age of six. Children play in city traffic on their tricycles while learning the rules of the road and street safety. They also explore the fun facts of nature, acting, music, health and cooking through real experiences supported by programmes and activities. The activities flow into each other while leaving enough space for free play and creative exploration.

We stayed in close communication with the stakeholders to ensure that their vision of an open-ended play space for children was actualized. The development of the Nature Zone is especially exciting as it included a large photo-mural that incorporates native animal species that can be used as an interactive hide and seek game. The Toronto cityscape mural for the active zone is another opportunity for whimsical storytelling for non-readers. For the wayfinding, we incorporated the brand colours and graphic voice into customized icons to represent each of the different themed areas. This ensures that the message that the visitor gets from their pre-visit to the website matches with the actual experience in the real, physical space.